Last Week in Words

MONDAY"I think there is a segment of the bank seller market that really has the desire to clean up their books for the end of the year and be able to move on next year."

— Justin A. Barr, president of Loan Workout Advisers, about signs that the long-awaited wave of problem-loan selling may have begun.

TUESDAY"While the firewall may protect the fire from spreading, it could have the unintended effect of ensuring that the subsidiary burns."

— Heath Tarbert, a senior counsel at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, on 'subsidiarization,' wherein giant firms put their many international business lines into clear-cut subsidiaries instead of less distinct branches, making it easier to unwind them in a resolution.

WEDNESDAY"At the end of the day, we'll pay for the things that Countrywide did."

— Brian Moynihan, Bank of America's chief executive, referring to the role of the storied and sullied mortgage lender, acquired two years ago, in B of A's present foreclosure troubles.

THURSDAY"My conclusion is that, like any result of compromise, the new structure is not necessarily the ideal structure, it is merely the structure that was able to muster enough votes to pass through the legislative process."

— John Bowman, acting director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, arguing in a Tokyo speech that his agency had been unfairly made the scapegoat for the financial crisis.

FRIDAY"To me it gets a little frustrating that the people who were put in charge and were supposed to know … are continuing the theme of their testimonies, 'We didn't know.' But when we bring you in, your testimony is: 'But we are on it now.' I think the American people have a greater expectation that you know it before it happens rather than after it happens."